Long Denies Ozturk Third Straight POY Title as MSPT Season 16 Comes to Close; Vang Makes History

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Dec 16, 2025 5 min read

One of the tightest Player of the Year races in the history of poker came to an end Sunday night. It happened on the Major Series of Poker: The Tour (MSPT) when Jake Long denied Umut Ozturk an unprecedented third MSPT POY title as the yearlong back-and-forth race literally came down to the final side event.

Long earned $314,604 on Season 16 of the MSPT, which included a tour-high eight side event victories, good for eight MSPT Gold Cards. Two of those came at the final stop, which proved invaluable in helping him secure POY.

He also final tabled two MSPT Main Events, finishing runner-up to Mike Estes in the 2025 MSPT Iowa Poker State Championship for $94,499 and less than a month later taking fourth in the MSPT Hollywood St. Louis for $43,989.

Now, Long has etched his name in MSPT history and earned a $10,000 Main Event seat as a prize.

Entering the final day of MSPT Season 16, Long led with 10,382 points but didn’t make Day 2 of MSPT Running Aces Mini Main, while Ozturk had 10,147 points and did make Day 2 in the money. With a difference of 235 points and 114 players returning to action, Ozturk needed to finish in 15th place or higher to take the lead.

Unfortunately for him, his run came to an unceremonious end in 84th place for $810 and 33 POY points. However, there were two side events on Sunday, which gave both players their last opportunities to amass points. Both busted the 4 p.m. event, but went relatively deep in Event #17: $300 Progressive Bounty NLH.

Long busted in 21st place for 13 points, while Ozturk was still in and needed to finish in at least third place to win POY. Unfortunately for him, that didn’t happen as his run ended in ninth place. Just like that, the yearlong race was over, and the ever-gracious Ozturk congratulated Long on winning MSPT Season 16 Player of the Year!

It wasn’t all bad for Ozturk, who crushed the MSPT Icon of the Year race with 10,255 points, well ahead of runner-up Josh Reichard with 8,696 points and nearly double that of DJ Buckley, who finished third with 5,400 points. Ozturk received a $10,000 Main Event seat for winning the title of 2025 MSPT Icon of the Year.

MSPT Season 16 Final Player of the Year Standings

Reichard Claims Two Side Event Titles

Long wasn't the only player to claim two side event titles at the 2025 MSPT Winter Poker Classic. His good friend and former MSPT Player of the Year, Josh Reichard, who finished third in Season 16 POY points, won Event #11: $300 Mixed PLO/NLH Monster Stack for $8,232 and then took down Event #16: $250 Monster Stack NLH for $5,760.

Reichard, who won POY in 2022, is now tied for second with Michael Starek for most MSPT Gold Cards with four.

Other side events winners from the MSPT Running Aces included Heidi Roggenkamp, Leo Fussy, and David Soderstrom.

Bjornstad Takes Down Mini Main

The last big tournament of the MSPT Season 16 was the $400 Mini Main Event, which attracted 1,025 entries over four starting flights. On Sunday, 114 players returned for Day 2, including DJ Buckley (37th - $1,148), Josh Reichard (23rd - $2,296), Hunter Quinlivan (13th - $4,051), and Gene Boyer (7th - $9,791).

In the end, it was Iowa’s Tom Bjornstad laying claim to the title and $58,000 top prize, while both Jason Coyle and Tom Stambaugh each locked up $35,821 for finishing in second and third place respectively.

MSPT Running Aces Mini Main Final Table Results

_{*Denotes three-handed deal.}

Jeff Copeland MSPT Season 16 Senior of the Year

The Senior (50+) Player of the Year race began June 1, 2025, and awarded points in every MSPT Senior Event. Jeff Copeland out of St. Louis fared the best in said events, amassing 600 points, which was enough to give him the title of MSPT Season 16 Senior of the Year and a $5,000 prize.

MSPT Season 16 Senior of the Year Final Results

Kou Vang Becomes MSPT's All-Time Money Leader

For years, Rich Alsup was the only player in history to have over a million dollars in MSPT winnings. That changed at the MSPT Season 16 finale when MSPT Hall of Famer Kou Vang finished runner-up in the MSPT Running Aces Main Event for $114,000.

Even though Vang fell short of his fourth MSPT title, the score moved him ahead of Alsup with $1,015,242 in lifetime MSPT earnings. Not only did he take over the top spot by a slim margin, but Vang also became just the second player to ever cross the seven-figure mark in MSPT earnings.

MSPT Player of the Year Winners

_{*Images courtesy of MSPT & Tyler Abrams.}

PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, host of both the PokerNews Podcast & MPST Podcast Presented By PokerNews, and 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.

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